MoveOn Urges FCC To Protect Net Neutrality; Cites Obama In New Ad

Days before a pivotal Federal Communications Commission meeting on the future of Net Neutrality, MoveOn.org Political Action has started running a TV ad urging the FCC to heed President Obama’s call for an open Internet.

The FCC is scheduled to meet Thursday to consider a proposal from its chair, Tom Wheeler, that could undermine the foundational principle of Net Neutrality, which ensures that the Internet remains open and that content shouldn’t be privileged just because its backers can afford to put it into a special fast lane.

“An open Internet levels the playing field in our democracy. That’s why it’s alarming that FCC Chair Tom Wheeler has proposed rules that would break President Obama’s promise to uphold Net Neutrality — rules that could destroy the Internet as we know it,” said Victoria Kaplan, lead campaign director of MoveOn.org Political Action. “MoveOn members strongly support Net Neutrality and are calling on the FCC to scrap proposed rules that would undermine an open Internet.”

MoveOn’s ad, running this week via a five-figure buy in the D.C. market, warns that the proposal in front of the FCC could “change the rules and let Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) and Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) pick winners and losers online.”

Allowing big telecommunications companies to control the flow and speed of information online could create a two-tiered Internet, with a fast lane for wealthy corporations that can afford to pay for their content to move quickly, and a slow lane for everyone else, including small businesses, educators, artists, entrepreneurs, and ordinary Americans.

MoveOn’s new ad comes after more than 10,000 MoveOn members submitted stories and comments to the FCC last week demanding that the commission support Net Neutrality. In their testimonies, MoveOn members explained how they could be personally harmed in the absence of Net Neutrality.